Viscoelastic dampers as energy dissipation devices for seismic applications

On the basis of extensive analytical and experimental investigations, some practical issues associated with the application of viscoelastic dampers to building structures for seismic performance enhancement are considered. It is first shown that the seismic response of a structure can be significantly improved with added dampers. Even at high temperatures, results show that a viscoelastically damped structure can still achieve a significant reduction of structural response as compared to the case with no dampers added. The development of a design procedure for viscoelastic dampers by taking into account the ambient temperature is addressed next, following a model strain energy approach. Numerical simulation on equivalent structural damping and structural response confirms that the dynamic behavior of structures with added viscoelastic dampers can be easily incorporated into a conventional design process. (Authors)